What a glorious day for a game as we made the long trek to Rockland for our return game against Canarinho. The sun was shining, there was a bit of a breeze, and the grass pitch was slightly soft underfoot.
We had a good start to the game, and Canarinho couldn't get much of the ball at first. For all our possession and work, though, we didn't create many chances before Abdullah put a shot across the face of the goal after about 15 minutes. Canarinho gradually started to get into the game more as they worked to crack our offside trap. When the trap was breached after many failed attempts (and much moaning to the referee) Mike was off his line quickly to close down the danger. As the half closed out Canarinho were in the ascendant, having come close to scoring once when a dangerous ball across the face of our goal was missed by everyone.
Not long into the second half there was a suspicion of offside when Canarinho broke down the left side. As the defence moved across one man was left on the back post for a simple tap-in when a low cross came his way. We managed a quick reply: Marc played a long diagonal to Kirk on the left, and he carried the ball into the penalty area before driving a low shot between the keeper and his near post.
We had some chances to take the lead. Marc took a speculative pop from range, but the ball bounced back off the crossbar with the goalie well beaten. Steve Gans floated a cross from the right, but Samuel, unmarked at the back post, couldn't keep his header down. Then Karsten picked up a lovely through-ball and rounded the keeper but fluffed his finish, scuffing the ball wide of the open target. It was the little Canaries who took the lead instead: a driving run at the heart of our defence by their number 9, was followed by a slightly fortunate bounce on his pass that sat up nicely for a finish on the right from 10 yards. The lead didn't last long, though, as Andy played a lethal high cross/shot from the right. The frantically back-peddling keeper managed to stop the ball looping into the net, but his one-handed stop only dropped the ball onto Karsten's foot, and he made no mistake on the volley.
Squad: Mike O, Schec, Jean, Mike A, Ivan, Andy, Steve S, Joe, Steve S, Karsten, Abdullah, Marc, Kirk, Samuel
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